Page 2 of The Hot Shot

I looked at the list that had caught his eye and saw that all the attending firms and owners of tonight’s bar were marked with the order of probability of signing with us or turning to a rival suitor.

“I have my ways,” I admitted before Jace turned to face me. “I never said it was going to be easy.”

“You know that I’ve got your back and I’ll help however I can,” Jace uttered, clasping my shoulder. “You’ll live that dream, man. All of it.”

“Don’t I know it,” I replied. “You always have.”

“That’s what brothers are for. We always have each other’s backs.”

I hope no truer words could be spoken.

“Absolutely,” I said, grabbing my briefcase and ushering Jace to step outside the door.

I walked straight past everyone still busy working away and toward the lift as Brendan stood, tapping his foot and watching the pair of us leave, scowling without a word to say. I still can’t believe the motherfucker hasn’t decided to come along tonight. I mean he may not agree with the idea but I was sure he could see the benefit. It’s like he just wanted a constant conveyor belt running of new work without having to do any of the work to get it there. It didn’t matter, just as long as I continued being the brains in his career-driven empire and keep bringing him the cash to line his pockets with, nothing else mattered. He really was a piece of work.

“See you Monday,” I said, cocking my head to the side as the doors shut. “I’ll give you my report on tonight then,” I shouted. As the doors closed too, I was unable to resist flipping him the bird, making Jace bark out with laughter.

I knew he’d be cursing and questioning my motives and plans on how I was going to achieve the impossible, but I wasn’t known for my negotiation skills for nothing. I would ensure that these clients wanted my name and not the association with Brendan Rightside.

“Let’s go and get ready, shall we?” Jace scuffed my hair with a rough pass through of his fingers. “Because I’m hoping in the near future, we won’t be having to deal with that dickhead for much longer. I’ll have a new and more understanding boss.”

“I can’t wait until the day I give in my notice and tell him to fuck himself.” I gleamed at Jace as we called a taxi to my place. “It’s going to make my year.”

“Oh, that won’t be the moment that makes your year. The minute you secure that client tonight, that’s what is going to make your year,” Jace said as I nodded at his words.

“Very true, little bro,” I said. “Very true.”

I just had to put the actions into processes now and prove that I could do it.

CHAPTER TWO

WALKER

Hot Shot.

It doesn’t sound like much of anything but it was my baby, my creation and I’d worked damn hard to get the doors open to this place. I’d scrimped and saved to find the revenue to put down the deposit on the building; it was located in Manhattan. Location was key, after all. It was how I came up with the completely unoriginal name but to me it stood for more. I wanted my bar to be not just any hot spot but the hot shot around the area. I wanted it to be the bar that stood out from the crowd in the midst of an array of others, as they all fought for the same opportunity. I wanted the recognition and praise for achieving my dreams. I didn’t want to end up being the one that closes the doors for the final time in twelve months—broke and penniless—with a failed dream and broken heart. That’s what would be happening though if something didn’t change and soon.

I had exactly ten months, three weeks and two days left before I needed to renew my yearly lease and that was the time, I would set for myself to make a difference. I wasn’t expecting to become the next bar with a line around the block for entry overnight, but I needed to be busy. I needed customers to fill the floor all night long and not just have the odd straggler propped up at the bar enjoying the happy hour promotion and buying an extra three rounds five minutes before closing, just to get the most out of their money.

I needed help and now.

“Walker, looking at those figures isn’t going to magically make zeros appear on them, you know,” Dee joked, slapping me on the shoulder to get my attention. I turned around on my chair and saw the thick, highly engraved invitation that she was holding in between her fingers at me. “You need guidance and I think this could be the answer.”

I couldn’t help but reach out to my pain in the ass and best friend’s hand for the invitation between her fingers before she pulled it behind her back and stuck out her tongue at me.

“If you want it, you can come and get it—once you have put the ledgers away. Trust me, hours of staring is just going to pull you into an even more depressed state,” Dee stated before backing it up with a gleam in her eye. “I’ll even give you a clue. I pulled a favor in to get you an opening here tonight, so you had better be grateful.”

“What? I said I could do this myself.” I turned back around and dropped my head down to rest on my books, knowing that Dee was right. I knew where she’d gone—the one person she despised so much—but I also knew that she would have the connections that I needed. I was scared when I tried to guess what Dee would’ve had to barter with the devil to gain her help. Nothing ever is free with her. I hated the fact that she’d gone crawling to her brother Will’s girlfriend, especially when the two of them despised each other.

Dee was a bubbly, outgoing girl who loved to support her nearest and dearest, as long as they remained loyal. If you dug a knife in her back, then she’d sever ties and make sure you knew all about it. That’s what Sarah did.

She was Will’s girlfriend, and she caused a ripple in the family dynamic so bad that getting everyone in the same room together would end up in a bloodbath—literally. Nothing mattered as long as she had her perfect, business executive boyfriend on her arm and the expensive cars and money to spend so frivolously.

“You shouldn’t have gone to Sarah,” I admonished.

Dee dropped her gaze and her red fiery locks covered her face to avoid me. I stood up, lifted her chin and pulled her into my arms for a hug, not wanting her to think I was cross with her. I needed her to see that everything would be fine. I just wanted to protect her heart from any more heartache. Once she let them back into her life fully, it would be a struggle to escape them. They’d firmly fix their claws in and take everything that they could from her, just like before. I couldn’t let her become the exhausted shell of a person she was before, being at Sarah’s beck and call for every whim again. I’d rather close the doors to Hot Shot now than let that happen.

“I just saw an opportunity when she mentioned a charity event tonight for businesses and I grabbed it.” Dee pulled away and tucked her hair back behind her ears. “I agreed to attend also. That was the condition. Will is attending and he misses me.”

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